Jesus’ Ascension and Ours
We celebrate today the feast of the Ascension. In the practice of the Church, this is a feast that has been around for a long time, since the latter half of the fourth century. Until recently, it was a holy day of obligation, a sign of its importance in the practice of the faith. It is still celebrated as a solemnity, but now on a Sunday, by no means a downgrade.
The Church regards the Ascension of our Lord into heaven as a historical fact. We believe it actually happened. Theologians use a fancy word, theophany, to describe miracles like the Ascension. In theophanies, God uses powerful acts of nature (light, wind, fire, clouds, earthquakes) to get our attention, to tell us we are in the presence of God. In this case, God the Son, Jesus, shows himself free from the limits of nature by overcoming gravity and literally rising up, beautifully portrayed in our first reading from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles.
Theophanies are remarkable moments in history. But if that were all the Ascension was, it frankly would not be very important to us. The meaning of the Ascension lies in moving beyond the mere historical event.
What do I mean by this? Well, three things. First, let me perhaps shock you a bit. If all that Jesus did was enter our world as a human, die a horrible death for our sins, rise from the dead to show that sin and death could be conquered, and then perform this remarkable theophany of ascension, it would still not have been enough for us to achieve heaven. Jesus tells us this in so many words in our Gospel from Luke. For us to achieve salvation, we would still need God’s help after he left the earth in human form with the Ascension. God the Father created the world, God the Son save the world from sin and death and created the conditions for us to return to Him.
But the conditions for salvation alone are not enough. As humans, God gave us free will, and the choice to return to him is ours. We don’t need God if we choose not to return to Him. But being a Christian, if we really want to be one, is not easy. We would not have the strength to make the choice of a genuine Christian life without God. To make that choice work, God would need to send us the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, completing and making permanent the intervention of God in the lives of human beings. The constant presence of the Holy Spirit, who offers us fruits, gifts, and charisms strengthens us and give others and us what we need to return forever to God.
So there we have it. An all-loving God, God the Creator, God the Redeemer, God the Counselor and Guide pours out his very three-part divine completeness for us through the special arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is the faith essence of the Ascension.
But there is even more to this feast. The second point about the Ascension is that we ourselves participate in the Ascension. Our bodies are not lifted into heaven. But we are born in the image and likeness of God, and our souls will indeed rise to greet the Lord. If through the gifts, fruits and charisms of the Holy Spirit, through prayer, Scripture, sacrament, and service we live a Christian life, cannot it not be said that at the end of that life on earth, our souls will ascend? Pretty neat stuff isn’t it.
And finally, we do not even need to wait for the end of our lives to experience the true joy of this particular feast. The letter to the Hebrews this morning reminds us of this. If we cooperate with God in the tools and gifts He gives us, we in turn receive a sincere heart, and the absolute trust to live the Christian life with joy. This is the metaphorical aspect of the Ascension, the joy of the Christian life that can be with us every day.
In fact, here at St. Hubert’s we see ascensions of our spirits every day. Come on
Deacon, give it a rest. Sit down and let us finish the Mass. Well, I am not quite done. Consider the following:
Do we not ascend when we don’t worry about the square footage of our house, but how many people we welcome into our home?
Do we not ascend when we don’t worry about the clothes we have in our closet, but how many people we have helped to clothe?
Do we not ascend when we don’t worry about what kind of car we drive, but how many people we drive who don’t have transportation?
Do we not ascend when we don’t worry about social status, but how much class we display?
Do we not ascend when we don’t worry about how many friends we have but rather how many people to whom we have tried to be a friend?
Do we not ascend when people separated from Christian families because of long-held bitterness, return to the Church because of the patient love of family members and the prayers of parishioners?
Do we not ascend when we dig deep into our pockets for many years and work together to upgrade our worship and gathering space?
Do we not ascend when there is so much need in our community, and our parish responds with people volunteering in many different stewardship ministries and reaching and surpassing our goals for the Archbishop’s Appeal?
The Ascension is not a mere historical event. It is a critical progression in God’s saving plan for all of us. It helps enable our souls to ascend as well. And it reminds us of the ability of God through the tools and spiritual gifts God gives us to ascend our human spirits to the joy of the Christian life. I hope you agree that all in all brothers and sisters, the feast of the Ascension can indeed be considered an uplifting event.